Ivan "Hawk" Ivanovich
Dr Ivan Ivanovich, PhD, who prefers to be called Hawk, is a main protagonist in The Treaty, being one of the Final Five, and essentially the leader of the Treaty. Backstory 2023-2026 Hawk is a glaciologist, who worked in a Russian weather and climate research facility, code-named Arzamas-99, for much of his career, where he was working on the assembly of a nuclear-powered mashina with weather-controlling capabilities. He traveled and worked on Antarctica frequently, making both friends (Philippe) and enemies (Anderson). He was interested in one day moving his invention to the island for a practical demonstration, but the Treaty's ruling Systems Council declared he needed to find a non-nuclear energy source (since the Treaty bans nuclear powered energy plants or weapons). When nearing completion of the mashina, Hawk's research facility was forcefully overtaken by the Russian military, led by Rodion Alexandruska, with interest in turning his climate-combating device into a weapon. A test was conducted using uranium, and a 'snowstorm' was successfully generated in summer over a small, rural town. However, the next morning, the town was found completely flash-frozen. People had turned to icicles. Nothing survived. Hawk was devastated by the carnage, and declared the mashina must be torn down, reconfigured, and sent back to the drawing board. However, Rodion believed it worked perfectly. He demanded another test be conducted. Hawk plotted with his fellow scientists to cause a meltdown during the next trial, destroying the mashina and everyone inside Arzamas. Unfortunately, his plot was discovered by Rodion, but not in time to stop it. Hawk and Rodion managed to hide behind a barrier when the uranium core flashed and blasted the room with radiation and flash of ice. A gunfight ensued, and the military came in to arrest and detain the rebel scientists. Hawk managed to escape with the blueprints of the mashina, ''knowing he and everyone else would likely be dead in a few days from the poisoning anyway. Rodion took chase, but lost him in the wilderness. Hawk collapsed in a farmhouse after trekking the tundra for two days. By that time, a lot of his skin had fallen off (both Hawk and Rodion suffered the same radiation burns). He couldn't go to a hospital, knowing the government was looking for him, so the old couple who owned the farm nursed him back to health. The son of the farmers was a soldier and found him safe passage across the border to Estonia, where he would be able to seek asylum in Sweden. It was a rough ride getting to Estonia, and the soldier sacrificed his life fending off Russians waiting at the border. Hawk escaped again and found his way to Sweden, where he got in contact with friends from Antarctica and found a way back to the one place on Earth where he could not be arrested or deported. Hawk was flown to the UK, then to Argentina, then ferried by Captain Harold Porter to McMurdo. '''2027-2029' Once on Antarctica, Hawk became part of the Vostok team and made many Russian friends, including Zoyka Petrovski. He meets Gary Hart, whose expertise in volcanology gave him an idea on how to rebuild the mashina and operate it using geothermal energy instead of nuclear energy. 2030-2032 Hawk gets permission from the Systems Council of Antarctica to rebuild his geothermal-powered machine at McMurdo, but he asks for its construction be kept a secret, knowing it may spark the attention of the Russian government who will likely send half an army to the continent to arrest him and destroy it. He begins a team and they promptly begin designing (safe) underground tunnels and a channel into the base of Mt Erebus where the magma cavern will replace the uranium as the mashina's source of energy. Skeptics like Anderson are convinced Hawk is a Russian spy, who alerts the Americans that he may be building a weapon on the island. The Americans become very interested in McMurdo and begin monitoring it closely. This news also spreads to Rodion and the Russians, who seek permission to arrest Hawk as a war criminal, but are denied by the Treaty council. When Hart becomes concerned over the machina's power, he secretly sends Hawk's blueprints to a fellow physicist, Rodney McKinnon, to assess. McKinnon is poisoned shortly after telling Hart that he should be very frightened of this device. Hawk interrogates his fellow teammates over the leaked blueprints, setting himself up as a dominating tyrant of McMurdo. Hart never tells, but begins making plans to leave the island and return to his family in secret. 2033 Rumours of the mashina ''force the Americans to take action against the Treaty, with the specific intent of killing Hawk and all other Russians (a Special Ops crew, led by Lawrence C. Moses, is sent specifically to assassinate Hawk). Multiple nations initiate a full evacuation of their scientists, followed by the Americans' complete bombing of McMurdo. Luckily, survivors of Hawk's team huddle together in the caves and outlive the night (including Moses, whose kneecaps Hawk broke). The war starts from there, since the Russians initiate a retaliation, while the Coalition simply wishes to get in on the action and secure their portion of land. The war begins under the guise of wanting to secure rich oil deposits and large mineral sources, when really, a weather-controlling device and paranoia leads to the deaths of many scientists and he eradication of any base that could possibly contain the ''mashina or its blueprints. In the book (2035) Hawk's role in the book is the stern, no-BS leader with multiple vendettas against those who have personally wronged him. He is morbid and depressing in nature, a severe alcoholic, an insomniac, a PTSD-sufferer, but deep down he has a passion for protecting people. He strongly defends those under his care, going to extreme lengths of sacrifice to ensure their safety and survival. He is Chaotic Good: a madman who will set fire to everything and gun down everyone in his way, only to protect those who cannot defend themselves. He is described as 'The Law' within the township, dealing harsh physical punishment to those who wrong his community. He apparently sleeps with one eye open, and is always on the lookout for spies, and other paranoid signs of trouble. Hawk's mashina is complete by the beginning of the main story; the township is totally oblivious that the looming volcano behind them contains an earth-shattering device deep in its core, capable of going off with a single switch. This is the main mystery that David attempts to uncover from the suspicious Russian leader, causing enormous friction in their relationship throughout most of the book. When Hawk hears of oncoming enemies, he becomes determined to destroy any remaining blueprints of the mashina ''by travelling to Vostok, where he meets Anya and takes pity on her. Hawk has many physical encounters with people, including David (a punch to the face), Hart (another punch to the face), and Simon Anderson (a bullet to the back of the head) after discovering that he is a spy. David, witnessing the act, turns on Hawk, but later discovers that he had good intentions. He also has many heartfelt interactions with people, such as when telling Tabita that her son, Marco, will likely be tortured to death by the Federation, as well as encounters with Fox that emphasize how Hawk takes pity on those who cannot defend himself. His intolerance for comedy is also noted via his frequent phone calls with Toolie. When the ''mashina is finally used, Hawk manages to freeze half the Russian army at their doorstep, all a while finding a way to keep the townspeople of the Treaty alive. After the final battle, Hawk dies of his bullet wounds when hearing that Fox sacrificed himself to protect Nana and the others. He passes away on Nana's bench and is given an ice burial. The Coalition then evacuate the surviving members of the Treaty, who are all in mourning.